Automatic insertion machine for electronic components

ABSTRACT

In an automatic electronic component insertion machine for inserting electronic components into the inserting holes in a printed-circuit board, inserting operations for any shaped electronic components among taped axial electronic components, taped radial components and stick-packed electronic components can be conducted with a single electronic components insertion machine. Especially, in the machine, insertion spindles are mounted in a turret form to perform the inserting operations at the single fixed position.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to an automatic insertion machine for electroniccomponents, in which many types of taped electronic components, that is,taped axial lead components and taped radial lead components, andstick-packed ICs are held respectively and fed selectively to acarried-in printed-circuit board in a predetermined sequence, and theleads of the electronic components are inserted in the appropriate holesin the printed-circuit board.

BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGIES

In the conventional automatic insertion machine for electroniccomponents of this type, a plurality of insertion spindles, whichcorrespond to the shapes and sizes of electronic componenents suppliedselectively in a predetermined sequence, insert the leads of electroniccomponents in their lead inserting holes in the respective differentinserting positions. It is, therefore, necessary that the carried-inprinted-circuit board should be moved so that each predetermined leadinserting hole in the printed-circuit board may align to one of theaforementioned respective different insertion spindle positions. As aresult, the range of movement of a printed-circuit board traverse devicebecomes too wide to make it for practical use. Thus the conventionalmachine has a defeat that the traverse device is large-sized.

This invention is intended to reduce the size of a printed-circuit boardtraverse device and improve the efficiency of an inserting operation forinserting the leads of many types of electronic components byselectively indexing the insertion spindle suitable for each electroniccomponent supplied selectively and by inserting the leads of theelectronic component into the inserting-holes in the printed-circuitboard at a single fixed position.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The subject matter of the present invention lies in the construction ofan automatic insertion machine for electronic components comprising:

a printed-circuit board traverse device for supporting a printed-circuitboard and traversing it so that an inserting hole in the printed-circuitboard for inserting a lead of an electronic component is placed in asingle fixed position;

an insertion spindle column which is located above the traverse device,comprising a plurality of insertion spindles each having a differentinsertion chuck, and indexes one of the plurality of insertion spindleswhich is corresponding to a selected electronic component to the singlefixed position;

a taped component holding and feeding device having a plurality of tapedelectronic component feeders arranged for holding many taped electroniccomponents and feeding them sequentially to the insertion spindles, oneof the taped component feeders being optionally selected and indexed tothe vicinity of the single fixed position, the taped component holdingand feeding device feeding the optionally selected electronic componentto the insertion spindle indexed to the single fixed position; and

a stick-packed component holding and feeding device for taking out anelectronic component in a stick selected optionally, from a stickholding rack in which many electronic components in the sticks are held,and carrying out and supplying the electronic component to the insertionspindle indexed to the single fixed position.

The printed-circuit board traverse device moves the printed-circuitboard for inserting the leads of electronic components into the holes inthe printed-circuit board at the single fixed position and stops themsequentially. The insertion spindle column supports a plurality ofinsertion spindles and indexes the insertion spindle which is suitablefor the taped electronic component being inserted or for the electroniccomponent selectively supplied from the stick. If the electroniccomponent being inserted is a taped component, it is fed to theinsertion spindle when the appropriate taped electronic component feederis indexed to the predetermined position near the single fixed position.The appropriate taped electronic component feeder has been selected frommany taped electronic component feeders lined in the left and rightdirection in the taped component holding and feeding device. The tapedcomponent holding and feeding device can be moved in the left and rightdirection relative to the single fixed position.

On the other hand, if the electronic component being inserted is anelectronic component held in a stick, a desired electronic component isselectively fed from the stick component holding and feeding device andfed to another indexed insertion spindle suitable for that electroniccomponent.

The above-mentioned inserting operation is performed by movingsequentially all the electronic component inserting positions of theprinted-circuit board to the single fixed position. Therefore, withoutreciprocating the printed-circuit board, the predetermined electroniccomponents can be inserted sequentially from one end of the board.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings show one embodiment of the present invention,in which FIG. 1 is a front view;

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the arrows A--A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a left-side view showing a portion in a sectional view;

FIG. 5 is a detail view of a clinch turret;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing the arrangement of taped electroniccomponent feeders in a taped component holding and feeding device;

FIG. 7 shows a taped radial component feeder in which FIG. 7 (A) is aside view and FIG. 7 (B) is a plan view of the main portion;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a taped axial component feeder;

FIG. 9 is a side view of the taped radial component feeder;

FIG. 10 is a side view of the taped axial component feeder; and

FIG. 11 shows an intermediate feeding device in which FIG. 11 (A) is aside view and FIG. 11 (B) is a detail view illustrating the shape of acam plate.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(1) Printed-Circuit Board Traverse Device A

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, in a printed-circuit board traverse device A(XYΘ) table), on supports 2 fixed to a base frame 1, are secured a pairof guide rods 3 each having a circular section and extending in theright and left direction of FIG. 1 (the X direction). The XYΘ table isalso provided with an X frame 5 having guide rod holders 4 which slidewhile holding the guide rods 3. The X frame 5 is reciprocated in the Xdirection along the guide rods 3 by a feed screw 7 to be turned by amotor 6 mounted on the base frame 1.

On both the right and left sides of the upper surface of the X frame 5are secured guideways 8 extending in the Y direction perpendicular tothe X direction, and along the guideways 8, a Y frame 9 which isguidedly moved in the Y direction is reciprocated by a feed screw 11 tobe turned by a motor 10 attached to the X frame 5.

At four corners on the Y frame 9, grooved guide rollers 12 are rotatablyjournalled. The periphery of a round table 13 is fit into the grooves inthe rollers 12 and is guidedly supported. A concentric gear 14 of alarge diameter provided under the table 13 is meshed with a pinion 16rotated by a motor 15 attached to the Y frame 9. Thus the table 13 isrotated on its center axis (Θ axis) from the reference position to thedesired angle, e.g. 90°, 180° and 270°.

Motors 6, 10 and 15 are numerically controlled according to apredetermined program. In this embodiment, the motors 6 and 10 are DCservo motors and the motor 15 is a pulse motor.

Printed-circuit board P is carried from a magazine (not shown) along aconveyor 17 provided on one side of the base frame 1 and having a guiderail.

Then, when the round table 13 is at the reference position (0°) and theX frame 5 is shifted at the right most position, the printed-circuitboard P is guidedly fed into a printed-circuit board mounting frame 20secured in the X direction on the round table 13 by the push rod 19 fedby the feed driving chain 18 in FIG. 1. To a rod 21 journalled in thefeed direction on the round table 13, a pair of levers 22 are secured,and by fitting an engaging pin at each point of levers 22 into each oflocating holes provided in the printed-circuit board P, theprinted-circuit board P is located on the XYΘ table A. The engaging pininserted in the locating hole is released by engaging a layer 23asecured to the rod 21 with one of releasing means 23 at the right orleft traversed ends of the X frame 5 and turning the rod.

The printed-circuit board P on the XYΘ table A is taken out by a drawinghook 25 which is moved by a drawing driving chain 24 provided on theother side of the base frame 1, and then the board P is carried along aconveyor 26. The drawing hook 25 is fixed to the end of a long rodsimilar to the push rod 19 and is engaged with the edge of theprinted-circuit board P on the side the board P is pushed in, at theleftmost traversed position of the X frame 5. Then, the drawing hook 25draws out the board P.

(2) Insertion Spindle Column B

In an insertion spindle column B as shown in FIGS. 3 and 9, above theXYΘ table A, a turret support 27 is inclined forwardly at 45° andmounted on the base frame 1. In the hollow portion of the turret support27, a rotating shaft 28 is coaxially supported. By means of a fastener30, the rotating shaft 28 is coupled to a turret head 29, and the turrethead 29 is axially supported outside the turret support 27 andconcentric with it, with respect to the rotating shaft 28.

The turret head 29 is formed in the shape of a regular pentagonaltruncated pyramid. A straight line connecting a vertex (not shown) and amiddle point of a base side meet at an angle of 45° with a perpendiuclarline from the vertex of the base (not shown). The rotary shaft 28 isprovided so that the center line thereof falls in line with theperpendicular line. Furthermore, outside the turret head 29, a pluralityof insertion spindles 31 are mounted so that an axis of a respectivespindle is aligned with the straight line connected between the vertexand the middle point of the base side. These spindles 31 correspond tothe types of electronic components to be inserted into theinserting-holes in the printed-circuit board P. A locating pin 33 slideswithin a support pipe 32 fixed to the turret support 27 and fits into alocating hole provided in the turret head 29. Thus the turret head 29 islocated in a rotating position where one of the insertion spindles 31 isalways perpendicular to the printed-circuit board P on the XYΘ table A.This location is engaged or disengaged by advancing or retracting thelocating pin 33 by means of an air cylinder (not shown). The center lineof the insertion spindle 31 located perpendicularly to theprinted-circuit board is defined as a single fixed position 0, and themovement range of the XYΘ table A is determined so that any portion ofthe entire surface of the printed-circuit board P on the table A can bemoved to the single fixed position 0.

To the rotating shaft 28 is fixed a bevel gear 34.

The bevel gear 34 is engaged with a bevel gear 35. The rotating shaft ofthe bevel gear 35 is rotated by a motor 36 via a reduction gear 37,toothed pulleys 38 and 39, toothed belts 40 and 41 to index theinsertion spindle selected under numerical control to the single fixedposition 0. The upper end of the insertion spindle 31 indexed to thesingle fixed position 0 is joined to a coaxial spindle operating rod 42.Cam followers 44a are in contact with rotating cams 45, and two levers44 supported at a pivot shaft 43 on the base frame 1 are respectivelyrocked. This enables rings 46 engaged with the end of each of the levers44 to couple the coaxial spindle operating rod 42 and depress it,thereby making an insertion head 47 perform a known lead insertingoperation.

An air cylinder 113 (shown in FIG. 3) turns a jig 115 pivoted to thebase frame 1 by a pin 114 and depresses the lever 44, therebycompensating for cutting and bending forces against the leads of theaxial lead component. Reference numeral 116 is a rotary encoder whichrotates in synchronism with the rotation of the cams 45 and generatesnecessary control signals.

(3) Clinch Turret C

Under the XYΘ table A, in a clinch turret C, a circular turret rest 51is rotatably held by means of bearings 49 and 50 within a verticalsupport sleeve 48 fixed to the base frame 1, and to the lower portion ofthe circular turret rest 51, a toothed pulley 52 is fixed.

The toothed pulley 52 is rotatively indexed by the motor 36 via thereduction gear 37, toothed pulleys 38, 53, 54 and 55 and toothed belts56, 57, 58 and others in synchronism with the insertion spindle turrethead 29.

On the turret rest 51, known clinch spindles 59 equal in number to theinsertion spindles 31 on the insertion spindle column B are verticallymounted at equal spaces.

The turret rest 51 is locked in position so that the axis of one of theclinch spindles 59 aligns to the single fixed position O. To this end, alocating pin 61 is guidedly held in a holding member 60, and when thepin 61 projects to engage with a locating hole in the turret rest 51,the turret rest 51 is locked in position.

On the upper end of each clinch spindle 59 is provided a clinch head 62for clinching the leads of the electronic component inserted by theinsertion head 47.

A roller 66 at the end of a lever 65 having a pivot shaft 64 is fit intoa fork member 63 secured to the lower portion of the clinch spindle 59,and a cam follower 67 is attached to a lever 65a fixed to the pivotshaft 64.

Thus a cam 68 is in contact with cam follower 67 and rocks the lever 65,thereby making the clinch head 62 perform the clinching operation. Thecam 68 and the cams 45 for driving the insertion head 47 aresynchronously rotated by a motor 69 via a clutch brake 70, a reductiongear 71, a toothed pulley 72, the transmission mechanism includingtoothed belts 73, 74 and 75, and a further toothed belt 76. Thus theclinch head 62 is synchronized with the insertion head 47, and the aboveinserting and clinching operations are synchronously performed.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view illustrating the details of the clinch turretC. The clinch spindle 59 for actuating the clinch head 62 is coaxiallyinserted in the hollow portion of an outer shaft 124. On the top of theouter shaft 124 is mounted the clinch head 62 for clinching the leads ofthe electronic component, and on the nose of the clinch spindle 59 ismounted an actuating piece 125 for opening and closing jaws 62a and 62aof the clinch head 62. This clinch head 62 is energized in the directionin which the jaws 62a and 62a are kept open.

When the clinch spindle 59 rises relative to the outer shaft 124, thejaws 62a and 62a of the clinch head 62 are depressed by the actuatingpiece 125 and closed so as to clinch the leads of the electroniccomponent. As will be discussed later, this clinch head 62 is designedso that the clinch spindle 59 is directly driven axially and that theouter shaft 124 rises integrally with the clinch spindle 59 through acompression spring (not shown) between the clinch spindle 59 and theouter shaft 124.

For the rise of the clinch spindle 59 relative to the outer shaft 124,the clinch spindle 59 rises together with the outer shaft 124, a stopring 126 fixed to the lower end of the outer shaft 124 contacts thelower end of the cylindrical turret rest 51, and the rise of the outershaft 124 is blocked.

Under the cylindrical turret rest 51, a fixed cam 127 is provided. Thisfixed cam 127 is formed cylindrical in shape and provided with a camprofile 128 on its upper edge.

At the lower end of the clinch spindle 59 is mounted a cam follower 129contacting the cam profile 128. This construction permits each clinchhead 62 on the clinch spindle 59 to move axially, with the indexrotation of the cylindrical turret rest 51; that is to say, the clinchhead 62 moves axially so that at the single fixed position below theinsertion head 47, the clinch head 62 can be placed in the upperposition, while at the other positions, it can be placed in the lowerposition to such an extent that at least its nose does not interferewith the XYΘ table A.

Thus the clutch head 62 at the operating position is positioned in closevicinity to the printed-circuit board so as to minimize the up-and-downmotion for the clinching operation, and the clinch heads 62 locatedexcept at the operating position are arranged so as not to interferewith the operations of the other relative devices.

The lever 65 is engaged with the fork member 63 secured to the lowerportion of the clinch spindle 59 at the single fixed position and isdriven by the lever 65a through a connecting member 130 to move theclinch head 62 in the axial direction. As clearly shown from the figure,as the cam 68 rises, levers 65a and 65 rotate counterclockwise to raisethe clinch spindle 59 for clinching the leads. The connecting member 130can be disengaged from the lever 65, if necessary, by driving anactuator 131. Therefore, for example, at the time of adjustment of theclinch head 62, the cam 68 can be disengaged from the lever anddeenergized by the use of the actuator 131.

In the figure, 132 denotes an air cylinder for use as an auxiliarydriving source. A piston rod 133 of this air cylinder 132 actuates todepress outwardly the end of the cam lever 65a on the side contactingthe cam 68.

The depressing operation makes the cam lever 65a turn counterclockwise,and the turning of the cam lever 65a makes the lever 65 raise the clinchhead 62 at the single fixed position for making the clinch head 62clinch the leads. The air cylinder 132 is actuated by a manual signal ofa pushbutton switch or the like, and therefore, the rise of the clinchspindle 59 can be singly performed.

Provision of this single-acting auxiliary driving source facilitates thecorrection of errors. For instance, should any incorrect operation suchas an incorrect insertion take place, the electronic component automaticinsertion machine comes to a stop in response to a signal from an errordetecting device (not shown), and the operator removes that incorrectcomponent and inserts a replacement. Then by a manual signal of aswitch, or the like, the air cylinder 132 is actuated to perform theclinching operation. Thus the incorrect operation can be correctedinstantaneously.

As a matter of course, the aforementioned auxiliary driving source isnot limited to the air cylinder 132, but a known driving source such asa hydraulic cylinder or a solenoid can be applied widely.

(4) Taped Component Holding and Feeding Device D

In order to feed selectively a variety of taped components into theinsertion head 47, a taped component holding and feeding device D isprovided behind the XYΘ table A. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, below andbehind the XYΘ table A, an upper guide rail 78 and a lower guide rail 79(FIG. 2 shows only the left half of each rail) extending in parallelwith each other in the right and left direction are fixedly supported onthe upper and lower portions of a support 77 (FIG. 3) secured to thebase frame 1. A lateral frame 80 holds the upper guide rail 78 slidably,and a guide roller 81 supported on the lateral frame 80 is adapted tocome into contact with both sides of the lower guide rail 79. Then, anumerically controlled servo motor 82 (FIG. 4) rotates a feed screw 84via toothed belt 83. As a result, the lateral frame 80 is guidedly movedin the right and left direction.

To a holder 85 fixed to the lateral frame 80, many partitions 86 areattached. Reels 87 on which many taped electronic components are woundare removably arranged in a line; or cartons 87a (FIG. 4) holding thetaped and folded electronic components are placed between the partitions86, and they are mounted in the holder 85.

To the lateral frame 80 is also secured a bent frame 88 which surroundsthe fully rearward position of the Y frame 9 and extends forwards justabove the printed-circuit board P on the XYΘ table A. On a mountingplate 89 fixedly secured to the lower surface of the bent frame 88, anaxial lead component feeder 90a (FIGS. 4 and 10) and a radial leadcomponent feeder 90r (FIGS. 3 and 9) are placed in a line in the rightand left direction for each reel 87 or carton 87a. The axial and radiallead component feeders 90a and 90r are respectively designed to hold thetaped electronic component taken out of each reel 87 or carton 87a, withthe leads of the electronic component cut off, and to feed it to theinsertion head 47.

The mounting plate 89 carrying the axial lead component feeder 90a andthe radial lead component feeder 99r can be moved over the full rightand left length in the base frame 1. When the taped component isselectively supplied, the mounting plate 89 is controlled to moveaccording to the predetermined program so that the feeder 90a or 90r forthe selected electronic component can be located behind the single fixedposition O.

In this embodiment, the axial lead component feeder 90a is constructedso that axial lead electronic components can be fed in their flatposition, that is, with each electronic component laid flat and theleads at both ends fixedly taped. On the other hand, the radial leadcomponent feeder 90r is constructed so that radial lead electroniccomponents can be fed in their vertical position, that is, with eachelectronic component standing and the lead down and fixedly taped. Thiseliminates the need for reorientation of components fed from eachcomponent feeder 90r and 90a when each of the axial lead electroniccomponent or the radial lead component is inserted into the insertionholes in the printed-circuit board by means of the insertion head 47having a different chuck corresponding to each of the axial leadelectronic component and the radial lead electronic component to beinserted, and thus the insertion operation can be smoothly performed. Asa result, as the outline is shown in FIG. 6, the axial lead componentfeeder 90a becomes wide, which width is determined by a space betweentapes for fastening both sides of the leads, but the radial leadcomponent feeder 90r can be narrowed since the taped component itself isalso moved in a vertical position.

In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 6, there are provided two wideaxial lead component feeders 90a and several narrow radial leadcomponent feeders 90r, wherein the width ratio of each component feederis selected so that the mounting pitch P₁ of the wide axial leadcomponent feeder 90a is an integer multiple, i.e. two times and threetimes, of the mounting pitch P₂ of the narrow radial lead componentfeeder 90r. The illustrated embodiment shows the relation of P₁ =2P₂.

Each of the axial component feeder 90a and the radial component feeder90r is designed so that the mounting pitch P₁ of P₂ can be positioned bylocating pins 135 which are fit in pin holes 134. Accordingly, when fromthe circuit design conditions for the electronic components to beinserted into the printed-circuit board, it is required to insertvarious types of axial lead electronic components and it becomesnecessary to prepare another axial lead component feeder 90a in additionto the two shown feeders, the two left-hand radial lead electroniccomponent feeders 90r are removed, the center locating pins 135 areremoved from the pin holes 134, and then another axial lead componentfeeder 90a is mounted.

In this way, the number of axial lead component feeders 90a can be seenincreased.

On the other hand, when it is required to insert many types of radiallead electronic components and it becomes necessary to increase thenumber of the radial lead component feeders 90r, in contrast with theabove, one axial lead component feeder 90a is removed, the locating pins135 are placed into the center holes 134, and two radial lead componentfeeders 90r are mounted instead.

FIGS. 7 (A) and (B) are respectively a schematic side view of the radiallead component feeder 90r and a partial plan view of the end portionthereof. This radial lead component feeder 90r is formed as a removabledevice attached to the mounting plate 89 by means of a clamp 136 and isconstructed as follows: An intermittent drive mechanism 137 comprising aknown ratchet mechanism intermittently drives to rotate a toothed pulley138. This operates, via a toothed belt 139, a shaft 141 of a toothedpulley 140, and a sprocket wheel 142 having feed pins attached to theshaft 141 rotates intermittently in the direction of the arrow. Then thefeed pins of the sprocket wheel 142 are engaged with sprocket holes 145in a tape 144 fastening radial lead electronic components 143 in thevertical position, and the radial lead electronic components 143 areintermittently fed in sequence to the end portion of the radial leadcomponent feeder 90r. As will be mentioned hereinafter, the componentsare transferred from the end portion of the radial lead component feeder190r to the insertion head 47 by an intermediate feeding device 102 (seeFIG. 11).

As mentioned above, with the locating pins 135 fitted in the pin holes134, locating is done in the lateral direction (perpendicular to thesheet of FIG. 7(A)) with respect to the mounting plate 89.

FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view of the axial component feeder 90a. Likethe above radial lead component feeder 90r, this axial lead componentfeeder 90a is formed as a removable device attached to the mountingplate 89 by means of a clamp (not shown). The intermittent rotation of atoothed pulley 147 fixed to one end of a driving shaft 146 having anintermittent drive mechanism (not shown) comprising a ratchet mechanismis transmitted via a toothed belt 148 to a toothed pulley 149. A pair ofright and left toothed wheels 151 are mounted on a shaft 150 of thetoothed pulley 149 on the driven side. These wheels 151 are engaged withthe leads of the axial lead electronic components 153 in the flatposition attached to a pair of tapes 152 and 152 at a fixed pitch, andthe axial lead electronic components 153 are intermittently fed insequence to the end portion of the axial lead component feeder 90a.Then, a cylinder device 154 provided at the rear end of the axial leadcomponent feeder 90a is actuated, whereby the topmost axial leadelectronic component 153 advances together with the axial lead componentfeeder 90a and is carried to the single fixed position 0 just below theinsertion head 47, and at the position, the leads are cut off, and theaxial lead electronic component 153 is held in the insertion head 47.Also in this case, the locating pins 135 are securely inserted in thepin holes 134 in the mounting plate 89. As already mentioned, thelocating pins 135 settle the lateral position of the mounting plate 89.

As a driving source of the axial lead and radial lead component feeders90a and 90r for feeding taped components, in FIG. 3, there are providedrotating cams 91a and 91r coaxial with the cams 45, two levers 93 (onlyone is shown in FIG. 3) rocked around a pivot shaft 92 by both cams 91aand 91r, and the feed lever 94. The feed lever 94 is engaged with one ofthe two levers 93 selectively by means of an engaging and disengagingdevice by a control signal in accordance with whether the electroniccomponent being selectively fed to the insertion head 47 is an axiallead component or a radial lead component, and the feed lever 94 isrocked. However, when the electronic components being selectively fedare ICs packed in a stick, as will be discussed later, the feed lever 94is engaged with none of the levers 93.

The feed lever 94 is connected at its end to a tape feed drive shaft 95,and when the feed lever 94 is engaged with one of the two levers 93 asmentioned above, the lever 94 advances the shaft 95, which in turnadvances one taped electronic component stopped just below. For example,when that electronic component is an axial lead component, the feeder90a advances and feeds it to the insertion head 47.

Furthermore, there is provided a rotating cam 96 (FIG. 2) coaxial withthe cams 45. A cam follower 97a, in FIG. 3, touches this cam 96 to rocka lever 97 ON the pivot shaft 92. The lower extending portion of thelever 97 overlaps in the drawing with the lower extending portion of thelever 94, and its lower end is connected through a lever 95 and aconnecting rod (not shown) to one end of a hooked lever 99 (see FIG. 2)which can be rotated about a fixed pin 98. When the rocking of the lever97 rotates the lever 99, the other end of the lever 99 makes a rack 100slide perpendicularly to the sheet of FIG. 3 (refer to FIG. 11 (A)).This rotates a spline shaft 101.

The spline shaft 101 supports an intermediate feeding device 102 (FIG.11) for receiving a radial lead component from the radial lead feeder90r and supplying it to the insertion head 47. In FIG. 11 (A), thespline shaft 101 moves up and down by an air cylinder (not shown). Thelower portion of the shaft 101 is provided with a toothed pulley 103which moves up and down, and rotates with the shaft 101. The lowerportion of the shaft 101 is also provided with a frame 104 which movesup and down with the shaft 101, but is prevented from rotating by awell-known means (not shown). The frame 104 is provided with a cam shaft105 belt-driven from the toothed pulley 103 and a concentricintermediate shaft 106 inside the cam shaft 105.

The cam shaft 105 is provided with a unitary cam plate 107 shown in FIG.11 (B). The intermediate shaft 106 supports a chucking member 108 whichis guidedly slidable perpendicularly to the shaft 106. The chuckingmember 108 is attracted by a spring 109 towards the intermediate shaft106. Thus a roller 110 journalled on the chucking member 108 is normallyfit into a recess 111 provided in the cam plate 107. Under thiscondition, the cam shaft 105 rotates the intermediate shaft 106 and theyrotate together. However, when the cam shaft 105 rotates to the positionin which the chucking member 108 is opposite to the radial leadcomponent feeder 90r or the insertion head 47, the intermediate shaft106 is stopped rotating as a stop member 112 hits a stop (not shown).Next, when the cam shaft 105 further rotates about 20°, the roller 110is pushed out of the recess 111 and advances the chucking member 108. Insuch a way the electronic components are supplied to the insertion head47.

When an axial lead component is being inserted, the intermediate feedingdevice 102 is retracted to the upper position shown in a solid line ofFIG. 3 so as not to prevent the advancement of the axial lead componentfeeder 90a. However, when a radial lead component is being inserted, theintermediate feeding device 102 lowers to the position shown in a dotand dash line of FIG. 3, the chucking member 108 rotates 180° andreceives the radial lead component from the radial lead component feeder90r, and then, the chucking member 108 reverses 180° and feeds theradial lead component to the insertion head 47. After that, theintermediate feeding device 102 rises.

The spline shaft 101 rises and falls according to a program forselectively feeding radial lead components, and the timing of therotation of the spline shaft 101 and the timing of the operation of thechucking member 108 are governed by the cam 96.

(5) Stick Component Holding and Feeding Device E

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 on the right and left sides of the insertionspindle column B are provided stick holding racks 118 in which manycolumns of sticks 117 in the right and left directions are closelyarranged. Each stick 117 arranges and holds DIPS ICs classified by type.Each column of the holding rack 118 is also capable of holding aplurality of sticks in the vertical direction, that is, piling manysticks in layers. From the lower end of each stick 117, (when manysticks are piled in layers, from the lower end of the stick at thelowest portion) a DIP is taken, one by one, is put in a directionthrough the guide tube 119, and is supplied onto a belt conveyor 120.

The aforementioned XYΘ table A, taped component holding and feedingdevice D, and stick component holding and feeding devices E are whollycontrolled by an NC unit provided within the base frame 1. The NC unitcomprises two sections: a fixed sequence control section for carryingthe printed-circuit board onto the XYΘ table A, positioning the board inthe table A and carrying the board out of the table A; and a variableprogram control section for selecting the holding and feeding device Dor E to be used, selecting the insertion spindle and clinch spindleaccording to the type of an electronic component to be inserted, movingthe printed circuit board P with respect to the selected electroniccomponent, to the single fixed position P.

The printed-circuit board P is fed from the conveyor 17 onto the XYΘtable A, and locked in position. Electronic components to be insertedfrom the holding and feeding device D or E to the printed-circuit boardP are taken out one by one in accordance with the predeterminedsequence. The spindle column B and the clinch turret C are rotativelyindexed by the motor 36 so that the insertion spindle 31 and the clinchspindle 56 are located in the single fixed position O, and theelectronic components taken out are supplied to the insertion head 47.On the other hand, the XYΘ table A traverses the printed-circuit board Pto the position in which the electronic component insertion portionaligns to the single fixed position O. Then the rotations of cams 45 and68 permit the insertion head 47 and the clinch head 62 to cooperate witheach other, thereby inserting the above electronic component.

At the intermediate time of each inserting operation of the electroniccomponent, the rotating cams 45 and 68 are stopped rotating by theclutch brake 70. When all the inserting operations have been completed,the releasing means 23 depresses a release lever 23a fixed to the rod 21at the traversed end of the XYΘ table A to release the locating pin ofthe printed-circuit board P. The printed-circuit board P is taken out bythe drawing hook 25 and carried out along the conveyor 26.

Although in the aforementioned embodiment, cams 45 and 68 aremechanically synchronized to rotate, it is easy to synchronize themelectrically to rotate.

INDUSTRIALLY APPLICABLE POSSIBILITIES

The present invention is of the aforementioned construction and has thefollowing marked effects:

(1) Since the insertion spindle and the clinch spindle perform theinserting operation of a predetermined electronic component fed from thefeeding device, in a position of the printed-circuit board which hasreached to the single fixed position opposed to the above spindles, avariety of electronic components can be inserted while theprinted-circuit board is traversed sequentially from its end, and thetraverse amount of the printed-circuit board is minimized as possible,thereby increasing the efficiency of the inserting operation andminimizing the size of the printed-circuit board traverse device.

(2) Since a plurality of insertion spindles and clinch spindles suitablefor inserting various electronic components are replaceably equipped andconcentrated in the single fixed position and they are selectivelyactuated, there provides sufficient space for electronic componentfeeding devices around the single fixed position, and this is veryconvenient for inserting many types of electronic components.

We claim:
 1. An automatic insertion machine for electronic componentscomprising:a printed-circuit board traverse device for supporting aprinted-circuit board and traversing it so that an inserting hole in theprinted-circuit board for inserting a lead of an electronic component isplaced in a single fixed position; an insertion spindle column, which islocated above the traverse device, comprising a plurality of insertionspindles each having a different insertion chuck, and indexes one of theplurality of insertion spindles which correspond to a selectedelectronic component to the single fixed position; a taped componentholding and feeding device having a plurality of taped electroniccomponent feeders arranged for holding many taped electronic componentsand feeding them sequentially to one of the plurality of insertionspindles, one of the taped component feeders being optionally selectedand indexed to the vicinity of a single fixed position, the tapedcomponent holding and feeding device feeding the optionally selectedelectronic component to one of the plurality of insertion spindlesindexed to the single fixed position; and a stick-packed componentholding and feeding device which is located above the taped componentholding and feeding device, comprising a stick holding rack for holdingmany sticks each containing many electronic components, takes anelectronic component out of one of the sticks selected optionally andfeeds the taken electronic component through a conveyor to one of theinsertion spindles indexed to the single fixed position.
 2. Theautomatic insertion machine for electronic components according to claim1, wherein the stick-packed component holding and feeding device isprovided, with a top of the device kept inclined backward toward themachine, on the right and left sides of the insertion spindle column. 3.An automatic insertion machine for electronic components comprising:aprinted-circuit board traverse device for supporting a printed-circuitboard and traversing it so that an inserting hole in a printed-circuitboard for inserting a lead of an electronic component is placed in thesingle fixed position; a turret-like insertion spindle column locatedabove the traverse device for holding a plurality of insertion spindleseach having a different insertion chuck and indexing rotatively adesired insertion spindle to the single fixed position in accordancewith a selected electronic component; and a taped component holding andfeeding device including a plurality of taped electronic componentfeeders located below and behind the insertion spindle column andarranged on a mounting plate movable left and right, each of the tapedelectronic component feeders capable of holding many taped electroniccomponents, being optionally selected, indexed to a fixed positioncorresponding to the single fixed position, and supplying the electroniccomponents to the indexed insertion spindle.
 4. The automatic insertionmachine for electronic components according to claim 3 wherein the tapedelectronic component feeders comprise an axial lead component feeder forsupplying taped axial lead components and a radial lead component feederfor supplying taped radial lead components, a plurality of the axial andradial lead component feeders being arranged on mounting positionspredetermined by locating pins on the mounting plate, in which themounting width of the axial lead component feeder is an integer multipleof the mounting width of the radial lead component feeder.
 5. Theautomatic insertion machine for electronic components according to claim4 wherein the locating pins are removably provided in the mountingplate.
 6. The automatic insertion machine for electronic componentsaccording to claim 3 wherein the taped component holding and feedingdevice includes a mounting plate provided movably in the lateraldirection with respect to the insertion spindle; an axial lead componentfeeder and a radial lead component feeder arranged on the mountingplate, and further comprises only one driving mechanism provided at afixed position above the mounting plate, the only one driving mechanismbeing engageable with each follower of a carrying mechanism for theaxial lead component feeder or the radial lead component feeder locatedin a predetermined position in the near vicinity to the single fixedposition by the lateral movement of the mounting plate; and a drivingsource for driving the only one driving mechanism relative to thedriving of the insertion head.
 7. The automatic insertion machine forelectronic components according to claim 6 wherein the driving mechanismincludes two cams, two cam levers and one feed lever for being connectedwith one of the cam levers and wherein each follower comprises atransmission lever of an intermittent feed mechanism provided in eachcarrying mechanism of both the feeders.
 8. An automatic insertionmachine for electronic components comprising:a printed-circuit boardtraverse device for supporting a printed-circuit board and traversing itso that an insertion hole is the printed-circuit board for inserting alead of a selected electronic component is placed in a single fixedposition; a turret-like insertion spindle column located above thetraverse device for holding a plurality of insertion spindles eachhaving a different insertion chuck and indexing relatively a desiredinsertion spindle to the single fixed position in accordance with theselected electronic component; a clinch turret located below theprinted-circuit board traverse device for holding a plurality of clinchspindles cooperating with the insertion spindles and for indexing aclinch spindle corresponding to the insertion spindle indexed rotativelyto the single fixed position.
 9. The automatic insertion machine forelectronic components according to claim 8, wherein the clinch turret isprovided with an auxiliary power source for operating said clinch turretso said clinch turret can perform a manual clinching operation.
 10. Theautomatic insertion machine for electronic components according to claim8, wherein the clinch turret comprises:a turret rest indexing rotativelyfor holding a plurality of clinch spindles; a turret driving device forindexing rotatively the clinch spindle corresponding to the insertionspindle which is selected in accordance with the electronic componentand placed in the inserting position so that the clinch spindle may beconcentrical with respect to the insertion spindle; and a clinch spindleup-and-down driving mechanism for driving only the clinch spindlelocated in the single fixed position on the up-and-down direction. 11.An automatic insertion machine for electronic components comprising:aprinted-circuit board traverse device for supporting a printed-circuitboard and traversing it so that an inserting hole in the printed-circuitboard for inserting a lead of an electronic component is placed in asingle fixed position; an insertion spindle column which is locatedabove the traverse device, comprising a plurality of insertion spindleseach having a different insertion chuck, and indexes one of theplurality of insertion spindles which correspond to a selectedelectronic component, to the single fixed position; a component feedingdevice for feeding an optionally selected electronic component to one ofthe plurality of insertion spindles indexed to the single fixedposition; wherein said insertion spindle column comprises: a turret headhaving an insertion spindle column having an insertion spindle mountingsurface; a plurality of insertion spindles mounted on the mountingsurfaces of the turret head and each having a different chuck to be usedfor a different component; a turret driving and locating mechanism forindexing rotatively one selected insertion spindle to the single fixedposition; and an insertion head driving mechanism for driving theinsertion spindle up and down.